September 1, 2022
Dear Students, Faculty, Staff, and Families,
I wanted to follow up on the message I sent last Friday regarding the inaccurate AC Alerts that were received that afternoon. I am appalled that this incident transpired, especially at a moment when we were welcoming the newest members of our community on a day when so many staff, faculty, and students had returned to campus to inaugurate our new academic year. I know the false alerts caused a great deal of confusion, fear, and anxiety in our community, and I’m deeply sorry that this occurred. Members of my senior leadership team and I have heard from many members of our community about how profoundly troubling and disturbing these events were. Please be reminded that all students, staff, and faculty have access to resources for support, as I outlined in my message last Friday.
I write now to share some further details about what occurred and steps that we are taking to address both external and internal issues raised by the incident. Please be assured that the emergency alert system is restored and fully operational and that the vendor has fixed the technical problem that led to the incorrect alerts.
A few minutes before noon, we became aware that some groups and digital signs were receiving messages from the AC Alert system, and we quickly determined that they were both inaccurate and not originating on campus. We began our investigation of the incident immediately. While we were investigating those earlier messages, the entire campus received the false active shooter notifications in the early afternoon. After confirming that these notifications were false, we sent out our messages about the system malfunction.
We now have reports from the software company that caused the technical error that resulted in the incorrect alerts being sent, as well as from the College’s Information Technology team and from our Emergency Management team.
All of those investigations confirmed that the vendor mistakenly caused a series of false notifications to be sent while doing software maintenance and testing on their systems. Unfortunately, the vendor did not realize that it was sending an alert to our campus when it was testing the software. There currently is no evidence that either of these messages was sent deliberately or was the result of outside hacking.
As important as understanding how and why the mistake occurred is deliberately and thoroughly examining our own internal processes and systems to make sure we are as prepared as possible for any other emergencies that might occur. Here are some of the initial steps we are taking:
Software Partner
- Our Chief Information Security Officer is conducting a review of security practices and information risk for both software vendors that provide the tools used in our emergency communications.
- IT and ACPD are performing a thorough analysis of needed emergency notification functionality and the vendors who service those needs to determine if the software currently in use is the best one to meet our needs.
- We are also in continued conversation with the vendor in question regarding their maximum assurance that they have put into place all safety measures to prevent what occurred on Friday from ever happening again.
Community Preparedness
- One area of concern is that a number of students, faculty, staff, and families reported that they did not receive the emergency alerts. ACPD and Emergency Management will work with Student Affairs, Human Resources, and the Provost’s Office to proactively ensure that everyone in our community is enrolled in the alert system and that all of our faculty, staff, and students understand their best course of action in a true emergency. If you have not done so yet, please sign up for AC Alerts.
- We will work with staff across the College to ensure that all staff receive information about the safest spaces in the buildings where they work and that our students receive information about their residences and academic facilities.
- As part of our Emergency Response Handbook, you may also view information on responding to an active shooter.
- Emergency Management will conduct a review of the College’s Emergency Operations Plan with the Senior Staff and facilitate a drill with the support of a consultant.
Backup Communication
- The incidents revealed that we do not have an adequate system for distributing correct information in the event that our security alert system is compromised. We recognize the confusion that ensued last week and will build a redundant communication system that will allow us to get information to the community quickly and effectively, if/when needed, apart from the AC Alert system.
You will be hearing more from various campus partners in the weeks ahead regarding how each of us can best be prepared for emergencies. Once again, I deeply regret that this incident occurred, and I understand how difficult it was for many of our staff, students, faculty, and families. We cannot change what transpired, but my leadership team is committed to taking concrete steps to reduce the chance of future errors, prepare the campus even better for a true emergency, and communicate more effectively in the moment.
Michael A. Elliott
President, Amherst College